Category: Blog Tour

#BlogTour #BookReview The Postcard by Carly Schabowski @bookouture

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Welcome to the penultimate day of the blog tour for The Postcard by Carly Schabowski, published on 29th August by Bookouture. My thanks to Jess at Bookouture for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Kristin at Kristin’s Novel Cafe and over on Instagram, Christine and Ellen.

About the Book

When her beloved grandmother, Ilse, is taken into hospital, Mia drops everything to travel to Germany and care for the woman who raised her. But when her grandmother briefly wakes up and asks for a man called Szymon , Mia is confused. Who is he? And why does her grandmother need to see him so desperately?

Later that night, Mia returns to her grandmother’s apartment to search for clues. She soon discovers a small parcel hidden inside one of Ilse’s suitcases. When she removes the wrapping, she finds a stack of faded postcards neatly bound together, signed with a name that makes her heart stop in her Szymon .

Desperate to find Szymon before it is too late, Mia unearths a story her grandmother never told of childhood friendship and heartbreaking young love on the eve of the Second World War, and of a plan to rescue a young man imprisoned by the Nazis. Mia can’t quite believe her grandmother was so brave, and risked so much to save this man’s life… But did she succeed?

As the final pieces of the past come together, Mia realizes that she is about to find out what really happened to her grandmother during the war. But she doesn’t expect to uncover a secret that will change everything…

Format: ebook (368 pages) Publisher: Bookouture
Publication date: 29th August 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Postcard on Goodreads

Purchase links 
Amazon | Kobo
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

As the author reveals in her letter to readers at the end of the book, The Postcard is inspired by a chance find in a Polish flea market and a true story of wartime sacrifice.

The standout parts of the book for me were the sections describing the experiences of cousins Szymon and Tadeusz during the Second World War. Chilling and often disturbing, these scenes had a real feeling of authenticity. I think we are probably all aware of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis, not just on Jewish people but on citizens of other occupied countries, but it doesn’t make it any easier to read about. I couldn’t help but think about the current situation in Ukraine as I was reading the scenes of the young cousins serving as soldiers on the front line.

I’ll confess I found the young Ilse difficult to warm to because of her self-absorption and her inability to recognise – perhaps even blithe indifference to – the events unfolding around her. Of course, she wasn’t alone in that. ‘Everyone seemed happy with the Fuhrer and their new Germany, so if no one else seemed to care, it seemed pointless that she should worry about it too.’ Even when she does realise what’s going on – and the evidence is there under her nose – her motivation is partly the prospect of adventure. With the older Ilse it was a different matter. Her guilt and regret at the actions of her younger self was heartbreaking to witness, as was her determination to put things right.

My favourite character was Marlena who proves a steadfast friend to Ilse, a loyal confidante and a resolute individualist. I loved the way she supported Mia as she struggles to come to terms with the prospect of losing her grandmother, the woman who has brought her up since her parents’ death. Attempting to discover the truth about her grandmother’s early life provides a sort of distraction for Mia from her own troubles. It’s a journey the reader joins her on as the story moves back and forth in time until all the pieces of the jigsaw finally come together.

The Postcard is an emotional story about love, friendship and the choices that can change lives forever.

In three words: Emotional, dramatic, powerful

Try something similar: The Lost Girl in Paris by Jina Bacarr

About the Author

Carly Schabowski worked as a journalist in both North Cyprus and Australia before returning to Oxford, where she studied for an MA and then a PhD in creative writing at Oxford Brookes University. Carly now teaches at Oxford Brookes University as an associate lecturer in Creative Writing for first and second-year English literature students.

Connect with Carly
Twitter | Instagram

#ThrowbackThursday #BookReview The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler

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Christopher FowlerIt wasn’t just the authors included in this book I’d forgotten about but the book itself until another user on Goodreads liked my review of it recently. Reading my thoughts on it again, I was reminded how much I enjoyed it so I thought I’d share my review again, especially once I found out that its author, Christopher Fowler, sadly died earlier this year.

You can read his own version of his obituary and others by friends and fellow authors here. Gone but definitely not forgotten.

TheBookofForgottenAuthorsAbout the Book

Absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It makes people think you’re dead.

So begins Christopher Fowler’s foray into the back catalogues and back stories of 99 authors who, once hugely popular, have all but disappeared from our shelves. Whether male or female, domestic or international, flash-in-the-pan or prolific, mega-seller or prize-winner – no author, it seems, can ever be fully immune from the fate of being forgotten. And Fowler, as well as remembering their careers, lifts the lid on their lives, and why they often stopped writing or disappeared from the public eye.

These 99 journeys are punctuated by 12 short essays about faded once-favourites: including the now-vanished novels Walt Disney brought to the screen, the contemporary rivals of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie who did not stand the test of time, and the women who introduced us to psychological suspense many decades before it conquered the world.

This is a book about books and their authors. It is for book lovers, and is written by one who could not be a more enthusiastic, enlightening and entertaining guide.

Format: Hardcover (352 pp.)        Publisher: riverrun
Published: 5th October 2017          Genre: Non-Fiction

Purchase links
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Waterstones
Links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Book of Forgotten Authors on Goodreads

My Review

Reading The Book of Forgotten Authors is like browsing in the best second-hand bookshop in the world. That’s second-hand bookshop, mind – not antiquarian bookshop – because the works of the authors featured in Christopher Fowler’s hugely entertaining book are the sort you’d most likely find on the bargain shelf or in a cupboard box near the door.

From (too) much time spent in said second-hand bookshops over the years, I pride myself on having a good knowledge of authors and confidently expected to recognise most of the names mentioned. I was wrong. Over 80% were completely unknown to me and of the rest, some only sparked recognition once I’d read their entry and the titles of some of their books.  I confess to feeling a little thrill of pride on the few occasions a book was mentioned that resides somewhere on the many bookshelves in our house.  Yes, I’m talking about you Richard Hughes (In Hazard, A High Wind in Jamaica).

There were some authors whose inclusion frankly surprised me: Denis Wheatley, Barbara Pym, Marjory Allingham, Georgette Heyer, Winifred Watson. However, when I thought about it further, they may have name recognition but does anyone still buy, borrow or read their books? Which, surely, is Christopher Fowler’s main argument. And, am I the best person to judge? After all, I’m lucky enough to be part of the book blogging community containing some of the best read people on the planet.

The author clearly has an eclectic and esoteric taste in books and, despite his best efforts, some of the authors seem justifiably forgotten to me. I only jotted down a handful of titles to look out for during my next foray into a second-hand bookshop. However, even if the books don’t sound appealing (and, on occasions, the authors likewise), the joy of this book is the wit and humour of each bookish vignette.  For those of us who occasionally struggle to write reviews, the author provides an object lesson in conciseness, managing to summarise books in a single sentence and an author’s life story in a few pages.

So why do authors become forgotten? If I may attempt to emulate the author’s brevity, here are my thoughts in 9.9 (rounded up to 10) bullet points:

  • They wrote too much
  • They wrote too little
  • They wrote in an unpopular genre or format
  • They died
  • Their books went out of print
  • They were usurped by the fame of their character
  • Their book became a more famous film, play, musical
  • They were overshadowed by another contemporaneous author
  • They wrote under many pseudonyms
  • They wrote ‘challenging’ books

To some extent, The Book of Forgotten Authors looks back to an age of traditional publishing when there were few alternative avenues for authors to publicise their books. Today, with the advent of independently published and self-published books, the appearance of new genres (Young Adult, New Adult, etc) and the sheer explosion in the number of titles available, it’s interesting to wonder who the ‘forgotten authors’ of tomorrow will be.

The Book of Forgotten Authors is a treat for bibliophiles and would make a fantastic addition to any book lover’s Christmas present list. It’s ideal for dipping in and out of, using as a reference guide or as a source of inspiration for the bookish equivalent of the jaded palate. I can imagine it triggering many conversations starting with, “Listen to this….” and attracting curious glances at the reader due to its laugh out loud moments. Speaking of the latter, here are a few of my favourites:

  • [On Dan Brown] ‘He makes readers turn pages, and he’s fun to read, albeit in the same way that you’d watch a viral video of a drunk Russian falling over a railing.’
  • [On R. M. Ballantyne] ‘What drew the Scots to literary Tropicana? Did they just enjoy reading books where nobody wore a jumper?’
  • [On The Swiss Family Robinson] ‘This chronicle of survival against pirates, wild animals and the elements went on to become a beloved classic and the most memorable thing about Switzerland except Toblerones and euthanasia…’
  • [On Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel] ‘More than a dozen sequels followed, and with the proceeds the Baroness was able to buy an estate in Monte Carlo. As you would.’

In three words: Quirky, engrossing, bookish

Try something similar: Portable Magic by Emma Smith or Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan